Glass Half Full or Half Empty? How Your View Affects Your Health

Looking on the bright side of things doesn't come naturally to everyone, but training yourself to be more positive can work wonders for your health and overall wellbeing. Positive thinking is all about having an open optimistic viewpoint and seeing the silver lining on a bad day. Shifting your mindset can make you feel better, improve your mood, physical health, energy level and much more. Positive people have been found to be better at problem-solving and dealing with setbacks.

1

Build the Skill

Practice makes perfect. You can’t just wake up and decide you’re going to be positive, but instead you need to practice summoning those feelings. Small spurts of positivity practiced regularly such as appreciating a nice view or a a nice photo can retrain your mind to notice the good things around you.

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2

Spread Kindness

One of the most powerful strategies to promote self positivity is to be generous towards other people. The more that we are helpful to others, the better we feel about ourselves, so holding the door open for someone or paying for the cup of coffee for the person behind you in line is a great start.

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3

Show a Smile

Smiling reduces stress and is contagious and just makes you feel better!

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4

Take Care of You

Self compassion helps you navigate the parts of life that aren't so positive such as health problems and professional failures. You can't be positive without understanding how to deal with the negative and self compassion is very helpful.

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5

It’s Okay to Get Mad

Feeling angry on occasion is life and can actually be helpful. Sometimes you need to be angry because you see injustices that make you take action. The key is knowing the difference between functional emotions which help you improve your situation and unproductive reactions like road rage.